Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for selecting a suitable storage destination of a file attachment in email transmission.
Description of the Related Art
Attaching a file to an electronic mail (hereinafter, “email”) and then transmitting the email with the file attachment is a way of sharing the file with other persons. This method enables convenient transmission of the file to recipients but has a problem that transmission or reception of a larger-size file takes a longer time or may cause an error on an email server side. Further, the file is copied and the copy is transmitted in the method, so the method is not suitable for a case in which one file is to be edited by a plurality of email recipients.
Another possible method is a method in which a file is stored in a shared folder accessible to a plurality of persons, and then an email including a path or shortcut to the shared folder is transmitted. In this method, a sender of the email needs to store the file in a suitable location and consider whether every recipient of the email is accessible to the location in which the file is stored.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-182783 discusses a method in which an email relay apparatus stores a file attached to an email in a file server, deletes the attached file from the email, and sets an access right to allow each recipient of the email to access the file. In this method, a plurality of email recipients can edit the single file by accessing the file stored in the file server.
Meanwhile, there can be a demand for collectively storing a plurality of related files in a single shared folder when a plurality of persons cooperates together on a project, etc. However, in the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-182783, each time a file is transmitted via an email, a new storage location is generated to store the file therein. Therefore, the method is not applicable to a case in which a file is to be stored in an existing shared folder and to be shared. Specifically, when a file is to be stored and shared in an existing location which is suitable for the contents of the file and is accessible to every email recipient, an email sender is required to search for such an existing file storage location (folder) and store the file in the folder.